Tollway detractors condemn language as overreaching

By John Aguilar Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
04/13/2012 06:29:11 PM MDT

Updated:
04/13/2012 06:31:00 PM MDT

A bill drafted in the state Legislature that would create a "beltway completion authority" -- a governmental entity with sweeping condemnation powers to build tollways over the objections of towns and cities -- met with harsh criticism Friday from municipal officials.

The bill, which hasn't yet been introduced in either chamber, was denounced by Golden Mayor Marjorie Sloan as an attempt to create a "whole new level of government with unprecedented powers."

Superior Mayor Andrew Muckle said the bill, which would give the beltway completion authority "dominant eminent domain" powers to condemn public and private property for a toll road, is overreaching and steps on the concept of local control.

"Local decisions should be made locally and not imposed by some third party," he said.

At the heart of the outcry is the long-running dispute over the future of the Jefferson Parkway -- a high-speed toll road that would run from Colo. 128 in Broomfield to Colo. 93 north of Golden and essentially complete the beltway around Denver.

Both Golden and Superior have taken strong positions against it, claiming it would funnel excessive amounts of traffic into their communities. Superior has also said the highway would run the risk of stirring up plutonium deposited over the years by the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.

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Recently, both municipalities sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision to transfer a key piece of land on the east side of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge to the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority for road alignment purposes. The transfer has been temporarily delayed while the case is under litigation.

Eminent domain concerns

Proponents of the project say the Jefferson Parkway would complete a critical missing link in metro Denver's beltway and enhance mobility and economic growth in the area. And that position is at the heart of the proposed bill at the State Capitol.

A draft of the bill obtained Friday states that an incomplete beltway "creates congestion, which is a barrier to economic development." The draft says that "no single municipal or county entity" could alone complete the beltway and that building the road is fundamentally a state interest and a state responsibility.

The authority's board of directors -- made up of representatives of 18 municipalities, counties and state agencies in the beltway corridor -- would have voting power. Golden would be on the board but Superior wouldn't, according to the draft.

The bill further states that governments within the authority's boundaries would not have the power to enter into intergovernmental agreements to "frustrate" the completion of the beltway.

Broomfield Mayor Pat Quinn, who sits on the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority's board, said the idea for the bill came out of Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier's office. State Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, would introduce it in the Senate. Neither Rosier nor Boyd could be reached for comment Friday.

Quinn said he sees the bill as an expression of frustration by Jefferson County toward Golden, which it believes hasn't always been cooperative in parkway discussions.

"If you have one party that is holding everything up, what do you do?" he asked.

But Colorado Municipal League Executive Director Sam Mamet said the bill as written isn't the answer to the protracted standoff.

"The way the bill is drafted, there's some serious pre-emption of local authority in it that should cause some concern," Mamet said.

Chief among the stipulations in the bill that worry critics is the dominant eminent domain powers that the beltway completion authority would have over property that lies in a highway's footprint.

"This creates a super-dominant form of government with unchallengeable eminent domain powers over private and public property," Golden City Manager Mike Bestor said. "They can not only condemn your home but also schools and parks. It's an unconscionable grab of power."

Golden Councilwoman Marcie Miller said the bill strips all municipalities in the metro area, not just her city, of the power to determine their own course.

"You have no ability to fight back and no right to self-determination," she said. "The first thought that came to mind is how desperate (the tollway backers) are."

Session ends May 9

Miller also said she was disappointed that the bill is surfacing with only a few weeks left in the legislative session. She described it as an "end run" strategy that leaves almost no time for opponents to gear up and campaign against it.

Even so, Superior is considering hiring a lobbyist to take it on if it ever sees the light of day.

Which it likely won't, Mamet said. The head of the Colorado Municipal League said the bill takes on too much and is too ambitious to make it through debate and discussion in both chambers before lawmakers go home May 9.

"A bill of this magnitude being introduced so late in the session is going to have a tough time going forward," he said.

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